Want to uncover exactly who your digital competitors are and how they’re winning traffic? Looking for a step-by-step way to run a full competitor analysis using SEMrush?

You’ll find some SEMrush basics in this infographic.

Here’s a summary of what’s covered:

• Organic Competitors
• Backlinks Competitors
• Paid Search Competitors
• PLA Competitors
• Position Tracking Competitors
• Industry Competitors

Check out the post below for more.

 

Understanding what your competitors are doing online can give you a serious edge. Whether you’re focusing on SEO, paid ads, backlinks or industry-wide trends, competitive analysis is the key to refining your own digital strategy.

SEMrush offers a suite of tools designed specifically for uncovering this kind of intelligence. In this post, we’ll walk you through six core methods for running a complete competitor analysis using SEMrush.

Organic Competitors

Organic competitors are websites that rank for the same keywords as yours in unpaid search results. Identifying these competitors helps you understand who’s earning the traffic you’re trying to win. SEMrush’s Organic Research Competitors report makes this process simple and data-rich. It’s ideal for boosting your SEO strategy with targeted improvements.

• Use the Organic Research Competitors report to see which websites compete with yours for traffic.
• Enter your domain name into the search bar to view similar keyword competitors.
• Focus on sites that share a high number of overlapping keywords with your own.
• Use this data to analyse their content, backlink profiles, and ranking tactics for SEO gains.

Backlinks Competitors

Backlinks remain a strong ranking factor in SEO, and knowing who’s linking to your competitors can guide your own outreach. SEMrush’s Backlinks Competitors report reveals the domains with the most shared referring links. This gives you a direct view into potential linking opportunities and gaps. It’s a strategic way to strengthen your domain authority.

• Open Backlinks Analytics and click the “Competitors” tab after entering your domain.
• Look for competitors that share common referring domains with your website.
• Investigate where their backlinks come from to spot easy wins for your own link-building.
• Identify which referring domains are authoritative and relevant for higher impact.

Paid Search Competitors

Paid search is a crowded space, and understanding who’s bidding on the same terms is vital for cost-effective campaigns. With SEMrush’s Advertising Research Competitors report, you can explore who’s competing against you in Google Ads. It shows ad creatives, landing pages, and bidding strategies—all insights you can act on.

• Use Advertising Research and click the “Competitors” tab to reveal PPC rivals.
• Analyse what keywords competitors are targeting in their Google Ads.
• Study the copy and structure of their ad creatives for ideas on how to improve yours.
• Look at landing page examples to see how they’re converting traffic from those ads.

PLA Competitors

If you run an eCommerce business, you’re likely investing in Google Shopping ads. PLA (Product Listing Ads) competitors are those who appear alongside you in shopping results. With the SEMrush PLA Competitors report, you’ll discover how your product ads stack up and who’s outperforming you in Google Shopping.

• Access the PLA Competitors report to see which domains are visible in Google Shopping.
• Find out which products and categories competitors are prioritising in their ads.
• Benchmark your product titles, images, and pricing against top PLA performers.
• Use this insight to optimise your feed data and improve your product visibility.

Position Tracking Competitors

Even if your website doesn’t currently rank, SEMrush helps you discover who does for your target keywords. Position Tracking Competitors are the domains that rank for keywords you want to target. This tool is perfect for monitoring progress and identifying rising threats in your niche.

• Create a new project in SEMrush and set up your Position Tracking campaign.
• Enter your target keywords and location to begin tracking rankings.
• Go to the Competitors Discovery tab to uncover domains ranking for your keywords.
• Monitor these competitors over time to measure your visibility against theirs.

Industry Competitors

Sometimes, it’s important to zoom out and look at the broader industry. SEMrush’s Market Explorer tool allows you to compare your domain with others in your niche by traffic, growth trends, and audience demographics. It’s especially useful for benchmarking against large players or identifying shifts in consumer behaviour.

• Use Market Explorer and enter your domain to generate industry-level data.
• View the Growth Quadrant to see which companies are leaders, game changers or niche players.
• Examine Domain vs Market Dynamics to compare your traffic share and sources.
• Gain insight into audience age, gender, and top traffic channels for deeper market targeting.

Conclusion

Running a full competitor analysis with SEMrush doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right tools and a clear understanding of each report, you can gather actionable insights across organic search, paid ads, backlinks, and industry benchmarks. Each tool serves a unique purpose, and when combined, they offer a comprehensive picture of your competitive landscape.

Start with your organic rivals, expand into backlinks and paid search, and use PLA, Position Tracking, and Market Explorer to round out your research. Whether you’re optimising SEO or planning a new ad campaign, the data from SEMrush helps you stay one step ahead.